Since 2002, vegetative valvular endocarditis (VVE), septicemia and meningoencephalitis have contributed to an Unusual Mortality Event (UME) of northern sea otters in southcentral Alaska. Streptococcal organisms were commonly isolated from vegetative lesions and organs from these sea otters. Bartonella infection has also been associated with bacteremia and VVE in terrestrial mammals, but little ...

Organochlorines (OCs), notably polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), are ubiquitous environmental contaminants. Contaminant-induced immunosuppression by OCs has been implicated as a co-factor in the deaths of thousands of marine mammals in infectious disease epizootics over the last two decades, and limited studies support the hypothesis that PCBs are ...

Sea otters (Enhydra lutris) are the most recent group of mammals to return to the sea, and may exemplify divergent somatosensory tactile systems among mammals. Therefore, we quantified the mystacial vibrissal array of sea otters and histologically processed follicle-sinus complexes (F - SCs) to test the hypotheses that the number of myelinated axons per F - SC is greater than that found for ter...

Vitamin A deficiency has rarely been reported in captive or free-ranging wildlife species. Necropsy findings in two captively housed southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) included irregular thickening of the calvaria characterized by diffuse hyperostoses on the internal surface. One animal also had moderate squamous metaplasia of the seromucinous glands of the nose. There was no measurabl...

Oral ulcerations and plaques with epithelial eosinophilic intranuclear inclusions were observed in northern sea otters (Enhydra lutris kenyoni) that died or were admitted for rehabilitation after the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS) in Alaska, USA. Transmission electron microscopy demonstrated the presence of herpesviral virions. Additionally, a serologic study from 2004 to 2005 found a high ...

DAVIS, R. W., WILLIAMS, T. M., THOMAS, J. A., KASTELEIN, R. A., and CBRN~LL, L. H. 1988. The effects of oil contamination and cleaning on sea otters (Enhydra lutris). 11. Metabolism, thermoregulation, and behavior. Can. J. Zool. 66: 2782 -279Q. The purpose of this study was to develop a method to clean and rehabilitate sea otters (Enhydra lutris) that might become contaminated during an oil spi...

BACKGROUND Enhydra fluctuans Lour. (Asteraceae), an edible aquatic herb, is traditionally employed against toxic effects of heavy metals in India. The present study was planned to discover the protective effect of edible extract of E. fluctuans (AEEF) against Pb toxicity. METHODS The cytoprotective role of AEEF was determined on murine hepatocytes employing MTT assay and Hoechst staining. The...

Sea otters (Enhydra lutris) are known to forage extensively in both rocky and soft-bottom habitats throughout their range in Alaska. Their ability to significantly reduce prey abundance, limit prey size, and consequently alter community structure has been well documented. Much of this research, however, has focused on sea otter interactions with rocky habitats and associated epifaunal invertebr...